Rice breakfast cereals' BNI

Perezgonzalez assessed the nutritional balance of rice cereals in 2012, as part of a research on breakfast cereals in New Zealand.

Rice cereals had, on average, a nutritional balance of BNI 80.03c, being particularly biased towards excess of carbohydrate. It was adequate in saturated fat, high in sugar and sodium, and low in protein, fat and fiber.

Illustration 1: Nutrition information (rice)

BNI	80.03c	0.00

Food, 100g	2012	Ideal
Protein	5.6	19.0
Carbohydrate	87.0	52.2
Sugar	24.9	< 9.5
Fat	1.0	10.5
Saturated fat	0.3	< 0.3
Fiber	0.5	5.7
Sodium	0.565	< 0.379
Kcal	379.4	379.4
kJul	1587.4	1587.4

Illustration 2: Nutritional profile (rice)

90%		*
85%		*
80%		*
75%		*
70%		*
65%		*
60%		*
55%		*
50%		*
45%		*
40%		*
35%		*
30%		*
25%		*
20%		*
15%		*
10%		*
5%	*	*
mid	p	c	f	fb
max		s	sf		na
5%		*			*
10%		*			*
15%		*			*
20%		*			*
25%		*			*
30%					*

ideal % = grey cells; actual % = asterisk (*)

International standards

Rice breakfast cereals appeared as highly unbalanced according to international Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDIs).

Illustration 3: Nutritional balance across international RDIs

Rice	(diet)	80.03	59.70	66.43	76.50	65.23

Product100g	Company	BNI	WHO	US/CAN	AUS/NZ	UK
J.R.Fields rice pops	J.R.Fields	80.35	80.35	64.52	76.56	74.56
Coco Pops	Kellogg's	81.29	79.94	67.95	78.13	72.55
Budget cocoa puffs	Safeway Traders	81.39	81.39	62.80	78.54	76.54
Homebrand cocoa puffs	Woolworths	81.39	81.39	62.80	78.54	76.54
Rice Bubbles	Kellogg's	81.69	60.96	67.89	78.05	65.27
Homebrand rice pops	Woolworths	84.05	64.05	69.81	79.81	69.81
Sanitarium Ricies	Sanitarium	84.63	63.96	70.26	80.40	67.87
(Source: Perezgonzalez, 2012²)

Author

Jose D PEREZGONZALEZ (2012). Massey University, Turitea Campus, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North 4442, New Zealand. (JDPerezgonzalez).

Want to know more?

BNI™ database: The database offers individual nutrition analyses for foods, including the food referred to in above article.
BNI™ journal (2012, issue 3) - Breakfast cereals: This issue of the Balanced Nutrition Index™ journal collates all BNI™ nutrition information for the original sample in a single book.
Wiki of Science - Nutritional balance of foods: This Wiki of Science page collates information about several foods on a single page and provides useful links to the appropiate files.